is there a difference between by myself and alone?
he lives alone= he lives by himself?
I am by myself= im alone?
both in spanish mean estar solo/a
2 Answers
¡Hola!, Samo
You are correct to say that alone means "solo(a)". This is confirmed in our dictionary, here ----> alone.
On the other hand, our dictionary offers "yo mismo(a)" as the term for myself. Look here ----> myself.
Remember that "alone" is an adjective and "myself" is a pronoun. We use them differently. For example:
"When my wife is away from home for a few days, I can be alone with my thoughts and wishes. I can do things for myself."
The words although alluding to the same state of being are not the same and are not used in the same way. In your two examples, you have added the word "by" in front of "myself" in both your examples. I'm no English major, but I suggest that "by myself" being descriptive, makes it an adjectival phrase while "myself" in isolation is a pronoun.
I dont know if this is any help, but, to me, whether in Spanish or in English, myself/yo mismo and alone/solo are not the same.
What about estoy a solas? What about that vs estoy solo?
